A Mediterranean map for a project that I never ended up completing as the client’s needs changed mid-project. I liked the style and overall look of it so I tossed it up into my portfolio even though it’s incomplete. It was for a book on the historical events surrounding the battle of Manzikert.

The compass was styled after maps of that era, as well as the boats. And the specific arrangements of the elements and style of the little mountains and things are based on era-appropriate stylings. So it evokes both a medieval map (there aren’t really “accurate” Byzantine era maps) and a fantasy sort of map. I like the result, but it’s not quite as polished as I wanted it to be.

One of the things that was intended was a label with a clash of horseman in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. That is why it’s not filled in there.